Movie Night (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
by ilna
Summary: Catherine and Steve enjoy movie night and remember the first time they watched a movie together.
**Notes:** Mari and Sammy – thanks for the flailing. That will always be my favorite response :-). You two are the best in every way.

Readers and REAL McRollers – Can you believe it's April? The wedding will be here before we know it! Thank you for your incredible support with each and every story! Your excitement fuels ours!

 **Hope you enjoy!**

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 _Movie Night (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)_

Catherine lounged on the sofa in a well-worn tank top and cotton shorts, relaxing after a long day and waiting for Steve to join her. Sitting forward, she reached for the movie on the coffee table just as she heard the microwave beep. She read the description for the recent remake of _Point Break_ on the back of the box and squinted, her lips twisting skeptically.

A minute later, footfalls announced Steve's entrance from the kitchen carrying a large bowl of popcorn, Cammie trotting along at his heels. Catherine put down the box as he approached, and he moved around the coffee table to sit beside her while Cammie made herself comfortable on her bolster bed.

Steve set the popcorn down and picked up the remote. "All right, ready for this?" he asked.

"Sure, just one thing first," she said, touching his arm.

He turned, eyebrows raised in question. Before he could get a word out, her hands were on his neck, pulling him into a passionate kiss.

"Mmm," he moaned and, though surprised, responded immediately.

He dropped the remote to the table as he reached for Catherine, causing Cammie to raise her head momentarily at the clatter. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, the satisfied dog resettled contentedly.

Steve's hands moved to Catherine's waist. "Okay, then," he murmured agreeably and deepened the kiss.

She smiled with a hint of triumph and said between kisses, "Oh, I'm sorry . . . did you . . . did you want to watch the movie?"

"No, this is good," he replied without hesitation and kissed her again.

Easing her back onto the couch, he slid a hand up her side, shivering delightedly as her hands threaded through his hair. After a moment, his lips drifted, leaving a hot trail down her neck and across her shoulder, and he gently tugged the strap of her tank and bra aside to aid in his exploration.

He spoke, though his lips never left her skin. "Interesting how this seems to happen with some regularity when it's my turn to pick the movie . . ."

"Hmm," she hummed back and shifted lower on the sofa, her hands moving to the hem of his t-shirt and pushing it up so she could run her fingers over the warm skin of his abdomen. "Yes, very interesting . . ."

He lifted his head to look at her wryly. "I'm on to you, Rollins."

Her grin was saucy in return. "Mm, I know," she said and arched up into his body meaningfully. "And doesn't it feel great?"

He snorted his amusement. "You're not foolin' anyone, you know."

"Sooo not tryin' to fool anyone . . ." she purred and reeled him in for another long kiss.

"You know," he mused between kisses, "I have . . . dutifully sat through . . . a number of . . . painfully long dramas . . . romances . . . romantic comedies . . . and even a couple of those . . ." His forehead creased in thought. "What are the ones with the frilly costumes?"

"Period dramas," she said, her hands running up his chest and over his shoulders. "And they're not frilly, they're historically accurate."

"If you say so."

She rolled her eyes, a smile playing at her lips. " _You_ hardly even watch the movies you pick." When he started to protest, she continued, "At least not to enjoy them, you spend most of the time pointing out tactical errors and plot holes."

"You always agree with my assessments."

"That's . . . beside the point."

He chuckled. "Then what is the point?" he asked, brushing her hair back over her shoulder so he could trace his fingers over her collarbone. His lips followed, pressing heated kisses to her skin.

"That your taste in movies . . ." she gasped as he reached a particularly sensitive spot and curved into his touch, "leaves something to be . . . _desired,_ " she finished pointedly.

"Oh really?" he said, his incredulity belied by the amusement in his voice and his warm breath against her.

"And we _have_ watched your movie picks before," she insisted.

"We've started a lot of my picks before," he countered, glancing up at her. "I can't say we've finished many of them. We seem to end up like this more often than not."

She grinned unapologetically, then asked, "What about the first movie we watched together?"

His eyebrows shot up dubiously. "Really? You're gonna count that?"

"Why not?" she teased, playing with the collar of his t-shirt. "You picked the movie. We watched it all the way through."

"Because we were sitting on the Mills' couch during summer leave," he said with a slight eye roll. "Two years before we got together."

 _ **June 1997**_

" _Well, so much for working on the yard," Steve commented, looking at the rain coming down in sheets outside the window of the Mills' house._

" _Yeah," Catherine agreed from beside him. "On the bright side, the flowers we planted yesterday will get plenty of water."_

 _He chuckled, nodding in agreement. Turning to her, he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry you came all this way just to get cooped up here."_

" _It's okay," she said with a smile. "We can still hang out. If you want."_

" _Sure," he replied immediately. "We could, uh . . ." He looked around the living room, searching for a suggestion of something to do._

 _Deanna Mills appeared in the threshold between the living room and dining room. "Steve, why don't you two watch one of the movies you and Hal picked up at the video store the other day?"_

" _Are you sure there isn't anything in here we can help you with, ma'am?" Catherine asked._

" _Oh no, thank you for offering, dear."_

" _Well," Steve began, looking at Catherine, "movie?"_

 _She smiled with a shrug and nod. "Sounds good."_

" _Excellent," Deanna said happily. "I'll make you some popcorn."_

" _Oh, you don't have to do that, Mrs. Mills," Steve protested. "We can_ _–"_

" _No, no, it'll just take me a couple minutes," she insisted. "You two pick out a movie."_

 _She tossed them a knowing smile before disappearing toward the kitchen, and Steve let out a little sigh, scratching his head._

 _"We don't have to . . ." he began._

 _"No, come on. It'll be fun," Catherine said._

 _He gave her a small smile._

" _What do you got?" she asked._

 _Steve walked over to the television set and picked up three VHS tapes. "Any of these you haven't seen yet?" he asked, holding them up for her._

" _I've seen_ The Fugitive _and_ Fargo _."_

" _Okay, how about_ Twister _?"_

" _Okay, sure." She smiled. "We can be glad it's only raining."_

 _He grinned. "Right."_

 _He knelt in front of the TV to put the video in the player while she went over to the sofa and sat down._ _When he rose, he glanced at the sofa and the armchair, debating internally for a split second before sitting on the other side of the sofa._

 _Deanna returned a moment later with a large bowl of popcorn. "Here you go," she said, handing it to Steve._

" _Thanks, Mrs. Mills," Catherine said._

" _Thank you," Steve echoed._

" _Oh, drinks!' Deanna said._

" _I'll get them," Steve said, standing before she could offer. He put the popcorn bowl on the sofa cushion and looked at Catherine as he headed toward the kitchen. "Water okay?"_

" _Perfect," she said. While he was gone, she looked at Deanna. "Do you want to join us?"_

" _Oh no," the smiling woman said. "You two enjoy. I'm going to get a few things done for the neighborhood association. I'll be back in the office if you need anything."_

 _"Okay, if you're sure." Catherine cringed slightly. "I feel like we're kicking you out of your living room."_

 _"Not at all," Deanna assured her. "This is exactly what I would have been doing if you two were working in the yard." She smiled. "Enjoy."_

 _She disappeared into the hallway as Steve returned carrying two glasses of water. He handed one to Catherine and sat back down._

 _"Thank you," she said with a smile._

 _The howling winds in the opening credits grew louder, drowning out the sounds of the rain on the windows, and they turned their attention to the screen._

 _Steve reached for a handful of popcorn, brushing against Catherine's in the bowl._

 _"Sorry," he said, pulling his hand back quickly._

 _"It's okay."_

 _He swallowed. "You uh . . . you go ahead."_

 _She hid a smile at his reaction._ _After she had taken a handful, he grabbed his own._

 _"Do you know anything about this movie?" she asked, popping a few pieces of popcorn in her mouth._

 _He shrugged. "People trying to outrun tornadoes. How bad can it be?"_

"Okay, maybe not my best choice ever," Steve admitted, still hovering over her. "But I think, technically, _you_ picked that movie."

"Oh no, you're not putting that on me," she objected, grinning. "You asked which ones I'd seen. It's not my fault I had the good taste to see _The Fugitive_ and _Fargo_ when they came out."

He shook his head in resignation. Chuckling at the memory, his chin dropped to his chest. "God, I felt like a teenager. Sitting next to you, popcorn bowl between us, and all I wanted to do was . . . well . . . this," he said, nodding down at their current position.

"See?" she said, smiling and leaning up to kiss him again. "I'm just making up for lost opportunities."

He pulled back enough to grin at her, then paused, his face sobering a little. "I . . . I know you've said that you don't . . . regret the course our relationship took . . . that we didn't get together back then . . ."

"I don't," she said firmly, cradling his face. "At all. Because we formed a friendship that can withstand anything."

He smiled softly at that.

"So that when we finally _did_ get together . . ." she continued, "it worked like it did. Like it does."

He leaned down, pressing a heartfelt kiss to her lips.

Her nose scrunched in a guilty smile. "Even if I do occasionally distract you to avoid your movie picks," she admitted, playing with the hair at the back of his neck.

He chuckled. "Knew it. I'm gonna see if Delaney'll add it to the vows."

"What?" she asked with a laugh, her hands on his shoulders. " 'To love, honor, and . . . watch the movies you want to watch'?"

Steve nodded, grinning playfully. " 'As long as we both shall live.' "

Catherine laughed heartily at that. She kissed him once more, then pushed gently on his chest till he sat up. Swinging her legs from under him, she leaned forward and retrieved the remote before sitting back, taking his hand and wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

With the press of a few buttons, she started the movie.

Steve kissed her temple as she settled against him. "I love you."

She smiled contentedly. "I love you."

"As long as we both shall live," he repeated, this time with a touch of solemnity.

Shaking her head, she looked up at him. "Longer."

His breath caught, and he swallowed thickly. He held her gaze for a beat before he kissed her.

Leaning his forehead against hers, he exhaled slowly and replied, his voice rough with emotion.

"You got that right."

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 **Hope you enjoyed!**

The _**REAL World Ask the Authors Q &A**_ is back by popular demand! We'll answer questions in the endnotes of every story this week.

 **Today's question:**

 **dgdoubleu asks, Is the Allen family based on real people or did you ladies make them up?**

I love this question! Because I love how much our readers love the Allen family. I never could have imagined when I created them back with the first Shop with a Cop story in December 2014 (!) that they would become such a huge part of the REAL World. They are truly a joy to write.

To answer your question, they are not based on specific people, except for Jacob, whose energy and exuberance (and even a few memorable lines like the whole "bone guy" thing) were inspired by a boy who used to come to my library often - a boy named, of course, Jacob :-)

The others occasionally display some characteristics of other kids I work with on a regular basis, but they have really developed personalities of their own since their creation.

Thanks for the question! Keep them coming!

 _You can send us questions anytime by email (realmcroll at yahoo dot com), on our Tumblr page (mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com), or on Twitter (at Mari21763)._


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